John Clark Motor Group (JCMG) has acquired Morrisons Garages Limited and Morrisons Land Rover Limited in Stirling.
The business includes Land Rover, Jaguar and SEAT and will add an additional 80 colleagues to the group’s current 1264 team members.
Andrew Morrison will remain involved in the company and will work at an operational and strategic level ensuring that the business retains his many years of experience and knowledge with Morrisons, whilst helping to integrate some of the JCMG strategy, values and processes.
Commenting on the acquisition, John Clark said: “This is a hugely positive step for the group as we continue to build on our premium portfolio and further cement our presence in the Central Belt of Scotland. Acquiring the Morrisons businesses will help to strengthen our position as one of the leading automotive businesses in Scotland and fits perfectly with our longer-term strategy.”
“Working alongside Andrew will also be a great benefit for the group as his previous knowledge of the company, the team and its customers will help to ensure that this transition is as seamless as possible.”
Andrew Morrison also commented: “I am looking forward to working with the team at John Clark Motor Group and believe the cultural fit of the two businesses being family run will be a benefit to us all. Furthermore, we both have a strong focus on providing an excellent service and following discussions with Chris and John, I can see this growing from strength to strength.”
The company will continue to operate under the Morrisons banner recognising the years of long standing service and customer loyalty that this business is renowned for in Stirling and the surrounding area.
Chris Clark, Managing Director, commented: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues into the John Clark Motor Group and look forward to working with them to build on what is already a successful business. By working closely with Andrew Morrison, we will aim to enhance the customer service and experience, and offer development programmes to support our team wherever possible.”
“As I have always stated, our people are the essential ingredient to the success of the business and therefore we are committed to investing in their continued development. The team from Morrisons will benefit from our award-winning colleague training programmes, ensuring they have the right skills to continue to deliver the exceptional customer service this business is already renowned for.”
John Clark Motor Group is a family run and owned business and is currently one of the UK’s top 20 motor trade businesses. During 2016, turnover grew by 5% to £703m from £667m the previous year and profit before tax was at 1.2% of sales, which remained above the UK motor trade national average, despite what were volatile marketing conditions. Growth continued across new and used
vehicle volumes and JCMG were delighted to announce growth in turnover for the eleventh consecutive year across aftersales.
With the addition of Morrisons of Stirling, the company now represents 13 brands across 33 sites as well as operating two used car stores, Motorchoice, in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
The deal was supported by Burness Paull, Empire HR, Grant Thornton UK LLP and Bank of Scotland for JCMG and Morrisons of Stirling were supported by UHY Hacker Young.
Graeme Keen, Relationship Director, Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking commented, “John Clark Motor Group has seen impressive growth across Scotland in recent years. Bank of Scotland is
committed to helping Britain prosper through supporting firms like John Clark Motor Group and we’re pleased to have funded this latest acquisition and support the next phase of growth at the firm.”
David Kendrick, Automotive Partner, UHY Hacker Young who advised the shareholders of Morrison’s said “We have seen a significant amount of change within the JLR network over the past 5 years and the Morrison’s business remained one of the only privately owned sites. With the increased investment requirements and number of large groups north of the border it make strategic sense for the shareholders to exit, giving John Clark Motor Group another fantastic business to add to their portfolio.”
